Medicinal package



inventor alike-mu 5 Oct. 19 1926.

A. E. SMITH MEDICINAL PACKAGE Filed May 18 I 1925 Ere-4:.

ARTHUR E. SmiTH Patented Oct. 19, 1926.

UNITED STATES ARTHUR ERVIN SMITH, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

MEDICINAL PACKAGE.

Application filed Kay 18, 1925. Serial No. 31,031.

This invention relates to a medicinal package or ampule and it has forits object to provide a device of this character of such a nature thatthe medicinal solution may be made fresh at time of use and injectedfrom the ampule, through the medium of a suitable hypodermic syringe,directly into the patient.

In my co-pending application Serial Number 607,391, filed December 16,1922, I have disclosed a medicinal package consisting of an ampulecontaining a body of distilled water and having therein a capsule ofparaffin or tablets, of any suitable pharmaceutical preparation, such asan anesthetic for example, the whole being so arranged that the tabletsare maintained out of contact with the vehicle or water until the timeof use arrives, at which time the ampule is immersed in hot water tocause the parafiin to melt and to permit the tablet to dissolve in thedistilled water or any other desirable vehicle.

The importance of having freshly made anesthetic solutions for use innerve blocking work, has been set forth at length in the specificationof my application Serial Number 607,391 and need not be repeated here.It suffices to say that in vcertain classes of work and with certainmaterials, it is absolutely essential that the solution be freshly madeat the time of use in order to avoid disintegration or chemical changeof unstable drugs and to avoid deleterious or toxic effects upon thepatient.

The ampule constituting the subject matter of the present inventiondiffers from the ampule of my application aforesaid in that it isadapted to be loaded into a syringe after the manner of a cartridgeand'has a breakable tip at one end of the ampule and a movable cork orstopper toward the other end of the ampule, the latter being adapted tobe engaged by the plunger of the hypodermic syringe to eject the liquidthrough the broken tip of the ampule and into and through a hypodermicneedle.

In my co-pending applications Serial Numbers 31,029 and 31,030, filed onthe 18th day of May, 1925,I have illustrated syringes adapted for use inconnection with the ampule of the present invention. However, it is tobe understood that this application is intended to cover medicinalpackages per se since it is manifest from the two applications referredto that it is not limited to use with any one type of syringe.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an ampule :onstructed in accordance withthe invenion.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional View therethrough, before beingheated in boiling water.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional View therethrough, after beingheated, and

Figure 4 is a sectional View after the tip and rear end portions arebroken off and the ampule is ready to be charged into a syringe.

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters designatecorresponding parts throughout the several figures, 5 designates thebody of an ampule, having a reduced end or tip 6. This tip is etched, orcut partially through, as indicated at 7, to render it easy to breakaway the tip 6 and thus leave an opening through which the contents ofthe ampule may be ejected.

While I have mentioned distilled Water as constituting one of theingredients of the medicinal solution, any other liquid may besubstituted therefor, if, in the judgment of the physician, this shouldbe done. A stop per 8 which is preferably of rubber and which ispreferably provided with a concave front face 9 is disposed to slide inthe body of the ampule and confines a body of liquid, such as distilledwater for example, in dicated at 10, between itself and the tip 7 and inthis body of liquid there is placed a paraffin capsule 11 containingtablets or powder 12 of any character that it is desired to dissolve inthe liquid. The rear end of the ampule is preferably closed andhermetically sealed as indicated at 13 and the ampule is nicked, etched,cut or otherwise weakened at 13 to permit of this rear portion beingbroken away when the time of use arises.

Thus, when placed upon the market the ampule constitutes a hermeticallysealed package which protects not only the medicinal ingredients butalso its stopper 8 from contamination. When the end 13 is broken away atthe time of use, the edge 14 constitutes a surface againstwhich aretaining element of the syringe, not shown, may bear, as illustrated inmy co-pending ap plications above referred to. When the parafiin of thecapsule is melted, it rises due to the specific gravity, (if the ampulebe held in a vertical position at this time), to

the stopper 8 and seats itself in the concave face of the sto per. Thenthe package is placed in col water, holdin large end up, or is held inwater until t e paraffin congeals or hardens and thus, becomes, ineffect, a part of the stopper; This stopper in conjunction with theplunger of the syringe constitutes an ejecting piston for the medicinalsolution.

While I prefer to make the ampule as a completely sealed ackage, asillustrated in Figure 2 of the rawing, the closed rear end may beomitted if desired and the inner end be left open to roduce a packagesubstantially likethat ilustrated in Figure 4.

The reduced and tapered end of the ampule by which the broken tip 6 iscarried, constitutes a wedging element which materially aids in forminga fluid tight connection between the forward end of the ampule andsuitable packin members of the syringe, at the time of e ection of theliquid from the ampule.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the preciseconstruction set forth but that it includes within its purview whateverchanges fairly come within either the terms or the spirit of theappended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. An ampule of the character described.

comprising a body portion having a breakable tip and a slidable stopperdisposed therein, a body of liquid between the stopper and tip and areadil fusible medicine carrying container in sai liquid.

2. An ampule of the character described cbmprising an elongated bodyportion havcally sealed bothin front and in rear of said stopper, a bodyof liquid in front of said stopper, an element to be mixed with saidbody of liquid and a fusible body separating said element from said bodof liquid until fused by the application 0 heat.

5. A structure as recited in claim 4 in combination with weakenedportions formed in the body of the ampule in the rear of the stopper andadiacent the front end thereof.

6. An ampule of the character described comprising anelongated bodyportion having a sto per slidab y disposed therein, said stopper ing ofelastic material and having a concave front face, and a readily fusiblemedicine carrying container in advance of said stopper, the material ofwhich, when fused, seats itself in the concave front face of the stopperand forms a part of said stopper.-

7. An ampule of the character described comprising a body portion, aslidable stoppper disposed therein, a body of liquid within the bodyportion and in advance of the stopper and a readily fusible medicinecarrying container in said liquid.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

ARTHUR ERVIN SMITH.

